Rhapsody in Red
by Elli Cole
Summary: [SasuSaku] Until now she waited for his return, to see his dark eyes pierce through her green eyes again so she could savor the happiness she felt whenever he was with her. He made her happy with just a glance. And it was enough.


**Rhapsody in Red**

_by _Elli Cole

_Disclaimer: _Me no owning Naruto. Meh.

_Author's Notes: _I was severely tempted to write another Naruto fic when I was browsing through the category again. I'm trying to experiment through the pairings in this series since it intrigued me somewhat. It's not like my usual tastes but this series really got to me. So expect more from me in the future.

oOo

_Sasuke Uchiha_…

Her eyes lingered on his name for a long period of time as she sighed. She missed the days when he was there, quiet and reserved but one would still see the life in him. That he was contented and alive; that he was human. She scribbled on the paper of more words that described the young man who had been missing for a long time. She blew on a strand of hair that fell on her face as she bent her head down to write the words that she thought she wouldn't relate to his name again.

_Love_…

A heart was placed on the side of the word that she almost dreaded to write and she mumbled incoherently under her breath. She looked up and saw a translucent image of him, smiling at her softly with a tender look upon his face. She loved him then, she tried to change him to that fantasy but he wouldn't let her. A tear fell from her eyes and she lowered her head in depression.

He just wouldn't let her.

She wrote viciously on the paper and stabbed at it mercilessly. She needed him when Naruto left her for a mission. She needed him when she sought for advice when the blond didn't come back for weeks. She needed him when the body of her best friend was brought back to the village, empty eyes open for the world to see the pain he had gone through. She just needed him when she was left alone, no one there to listen to her cries and displeasure of how the world was unfair to her.

_Life_…

Was she even alive as she sat there, her eyes blank and tears rolling down her cheeks in abandon? A predatory glimmer of her eyes flashed in a second as the door to her room opened. She glared at the man who came to check on her and recoiled in fear as she growled angrily, her fists opened and closed in ready rapture of blinding pain. He closed the door quickly and scurried off like he always did.

_Coward_…

She was too.

A big, useless coward. She left everything she had for the insanity that kept her going through her pathetic life. She wanted nothing more than to just wash away her problems and drown herself in her misery and just _die_. She could be happy with Naruto wherever he was and just enjoy what she had missed of him. His smiles, his humor, and his laughs always made her day. He made her forget about him.

_Sasuke-kun_…

She hadn't called him that for so long. Her childhood crush faded away while he was away. She had always prayed that he would remember to come back to them. To her because she still needed him. Until now she waited for his return, to see his dark eyes pierce through her green eyes again so she could savor the happiness she felt whenever he was with her. He made her happy with just a glance.

And it was enough.

_I want to be happy…_

She stood up and walked around the room, her eyes staring emotionlessly at the four corners that held her captive. She knew she wanted to just taint the white walls and write her inner most thoughts so people would see and finally understand what made her tick, what made her feel, and what motivated her to keep herself alive. She neared a wall and she crashed her forehead to the cool, hard surface and she cringed at the pain that went through her head.

It was blinding but it wasn't enough.

She pointed the tip of what helped her keep herself entertained as she waited. The ink ran out and she pouted. She drew out a sharp object and poked it not-too-gently. She smiled and wrote what was on her mind.

_Pain…_

It made her realize that not everything in life can give you the pleasure and joy you deserved. Irrationally, she thought that if she made Naruto look for the man she had always loved and yearned for that she would be happy. She thought that if he ever came back without the man she wanted in tow, she'll hate him. But she didn't. When he came back lifeless and in the arms of Kakashi-sensei, she felt dead. More dead than the corpse of her best friend that risked his life for an inane fantasy that she could have what she wanted.

But she can't.

_Regret…_

She wanted to turn back time and just forget about the dark-haired boy that plagued her dreams constantly. She wanted to make sure that Naruto didn't die in her crazy attempt to make things better for everyone… but especially for herself. She drove herself to the brink, she knew, but she wanted to be happy. She deserved to be happy. She lived to be happy.

_Happiness_…

Written in dark red, the words in her head tainted the walls of the room and frowned at what was written. It didn't make her happy, not at all. She sat down and looked around the room and smiled when she saw she covered every corner, every place that there had space. She would be remembered. She heard the door creak open, wide enough to see the men that had taken her and gasp at their surroundings.

"She's bleeding," she heard one of them say. "Call a medic-nin, hurry!"

"I'm a medic-nin," she murmured under her breath lazily, her eyes blurred by sudden exhaustion. She lied down on the cold floor and sighed. "I'll heal myself."

"She's losing a lot of blood!" One of the men yelled, his eyes worriedly examined her body and covered her wrist in his hands. "Call the damned medic-nin!"

She laughed as she stared up at the guy that held her. His eyes reminded her so much of him. His hair, his smell, and his smile were in this man before her. She would've loved him if she had the chance.

_But I'm too tired…_

She yawned and her head faced the left side of the room, away from the stares of the scared men that were trying so hard to keep her alive. She closed her eyes and breathed in the musky scent of sandalwood. He smelled oddly like that, she mused as she gave out another yawn. She heard a woman's voice echo through the room and she had assumed it was already the medic-nin.

"How is she?"

"Not too well."

"She lost a lot of blood," the woman said frantically, her palms stretched before her. "I need help."

"I'll help you." She said drunkenly, her voice slurred. "I'm a medic-nin."

"_Sakura_—" The woman whined, frustrated. "I can't lose you too!"

"Help me," she whispered. "I see him looking at me."

Her blood spilled through her clothes and she didn't notice the sticky sensation rubbing off on her skin. She smelled raw and she hiccupped, she felt she was fading away slowly and painfully just like she had imagined before.

"I see Sasuke."

She opened her eyes and smiled upwards, her eyes glassy and empty. "I need him." She breathed in and breathed out rapidly, her heartbeat fast and uneven. "He's looking at me, smiling."

"Sakura!" The woman screamed, tears spilling out from her eyes. "Don't look at him, look at me!"

"I can't breathe…" Sakura gasped and her heart was pounding harshly in her chest, her eyes rolling at the back of her head but the image of Sasuke made her hold on.

"Hinata, do your best and save her!" The man near the doorway gasped out as he watched the woman he had once trained slowly slip away from life. "Please help her!"

Sakura looked at Hinata one more time and smiled softly. "Take care of me, Sasuke."

She felt herself float away, pain wasn't drilling in her mind anymore as she stared up at the dark eyes that haunted her mind relentlessly. She smiled at him, her pink locks billowing behind her and she had never felt more needed as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. She knew he wasn't going to leave her now.

"You're not going to leave me?" She asked him as she stayed close to his heart where it was supposed to be beating but wasn't.

"I need you," he replied back, his voice laced with uncertainty and doubt.

But she believed him anyway.

End.

_End Note:_** Please review. **A pretty dark fic, if I do say so myself. Not quite what I've expected to be the ending but it stuck to me like bubblegum on my shoes last Monday. I hope you liked it and want me to keep on writing Naruto fics because honestly, I've taken quite a liking to this series lately. This pairing is _deep_ and I might write more about them soon but a bit more fluffy and smutty next time.


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